Safety-lock for foot-levers



H. GELLMAN.

SAFETY LOCK FOR FOOT LEVERS. vAPPucmmN FILED MAH, 1920.

1,884,25 1 Patented July 12, 1921.

INI/NTOR.

* ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT: oFFiCE.

HYMAN GELLMAN, or NEW Yoan; any.

` SAFETY-LOCK FOR FOOT-LEVERS.

To all whom itmay concern.: j

Be it known that I HYM'AN GELLMAN, 'a citizen of the Unitedr tates,gandresident of New York, in the countyr and State of New York, havenventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Locks `tor Foot-Levers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification. n i

This invention relates to safety devices for preventing the-prematurelor accidental operation of afootflever such as is lused foractuating'presses of` variousl kinds, and has for its objectto provideasimple form ofv device for supporting the foot of the oper ator andmovable .byfhim frombelow the lever when it is desired to depress thesame,

said .safety .device being automatically re-` turnable to lockingposition when pressure is removed therefrom. ,e

The actuation of punching and other kinds ofpresses at the Wrong timehascaused many accidents, such as the loss of `fingers andinjury to thehands of the operators. It is the aim of the present invention toprovide a device fory normally supporting e ithe foot lever foractuating such presses or the like, so that saidlever cannot be actuVated or de ressed, until the device is with drawn by rawing thefootback. Means is also `provided for automaticallyr returning the safetydevice `tofnormal position for,

again locking the lever against actuation as soon asfpressure isremovedfrom said de! vice and the lever.

The invention Will be first hereinafter described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, which constitute part of-this l withdrawnposition of the device being in-V dicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the safety device. Fig. if) is an end View @ifthe saine looking specineation of Letters raient.

of the de-` Application iiiledMay 7,l 192i). 'Serial jlro. 379,467;

at the right hand end thereof as shown'in Fig. 2, and y l f ig.,V 4 is asection through the 4carriage inline with one of the wheel carryingaxles. In Fig. 1, a foot lever of a press or other machlne (not shown)is indicated at 1, the same being pivoted at2 and having the` foot piece3 at its free end while `its other end is connected by a rod 4 to themechanism to be operated. The safety device comprises a ,ioor plate 5having rails 1()` on itsupper surface, and a'reciprocating carriage 11mounted `on wheels 12 and normally` adapted to support the foot `piece 3of the lever as shown in solid lines inFig. 1.k Said car-` `rlage has' astep or'abutmentQQO near its front end over which the endof the f ootpiece of the leverfis adapted; to pass `for allowing said lever to beactuated, v,as indicated indotted lines in jFIigpl, When the can riazgeis drawn back. i

he carriage is yieldingly held in locking position by springs 14 and 17Two of the springs 14 are connected to theront `end of the carriage at15 and 4to a front flange 6 on the floor-plate 5 at 16, whilethespring17 is connected at one end to a pin 18 onthe floor plate belowthecarriage and to another p1n19 on the rear end ofthe carriage at itsother end. The lnumber i and kpositions y,of

desired.

kThe forward movementofthe carriage preferably limited by-v atransverserib or lange`7 on the floor plate 5, and to prevent saidcarriage from leaving the `rails l0' lateral. flanges Shavingoverhanging ledges 9 are provided at the sides of theflooraplate iextending rearward from.` said transverse 1 flange or rib 7.v Theoverhanging ledges `9 extend over the. lateral edges` of the carriage f111,4 as shown in Figs, 2 and 3.. The wheels 12rnay `be suitably mountedonlaxles 13 eX-y tendingfacross the carriage near the front and rearendsthereof.

At the rear end of the carriagethere is provided a heel piece of flange`21 adapted to conform generally to the rear portion and sidesof theheel of a shoe, so that when the foot of the operator is placed on thecarriage, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l, the heel of the shoemay abut against said heel piece and the foot be retained. in op7 thesesprings may, however, be changed, 'if' erative position on the carriagetherebyf in Fig. l where it is in its `farthestzfrontlV position andsupports the foot piece 3 of the leverlabove thestep20. `Nowwhen itisdesired to depressthe foot lever for operating the mechanism which itcontrols, it is necessary for the operator ,to draw back the carriagewith his foot "againstithe tension of the springs 14 and 17 until thestep 2 0 passes'beyondV the free4 end oi said lever, whereupon`thelatter maybe depressed' by thebal'l Vof the foot.V Justas soon as thepressure on the V'foot leveris removed and itlias risenabove the levelof the floor of theV carriage, the rearward pressure on the carriage"may also `be removed land the springs 14 and 17 lwill return4said'carriage to its`-forward lockingposition again. Inasmuch as thefoot lever cannot be `operated until `the carriage `has beenmovedrearwar'dlyjby the operators foot, the accidental operation fof saidlever is not likely.

lHaving thus described my invention, what l claim kas new and desire `tosecure by Letters4 Patent ofthe United States is:

1.?-The combination with a fofotflever, oit

a Ycarriage to normally support said lever and l,lock the sameagalnstoperation, and footfholding means onsaid carriage whereby thelatter may be withdrawn from below the'leyer' by the `:toot of theoperator and the lever actuated; by the same jfoot while on thecarriagefand holding thesame in withdrawn position.

2. 'The combination with a foot lever, of a carriage Vtonormally supportsaid lever and lockfthe same againstoperation, foot engaging means onsaid carriage whereby the lati ter may be withdrawn from below the leverby the foot of the operator and the lever actuated by the same footwhile on the car-I riage and ,holding the same in withdrawn position,and means for automatically returning the carriage tonormal positionbe-` low the lever whenthe pressure of the foot onV the leverandcarriage is removed.

"3( The combinationwith a Jfoot lever, of a door plate arrangedbel'owthe same, a carriage mounted to `be reciprocated on said floor (plate,means Jfor yieldingly holding said carriage in position to supportthelever and lock the same against operation, and foot engaging means onsaid carriage where.- by the latter may be withdrawn from below thelever by the foot of the operator and thelever actuated,by the same footwhile on the carriage and holding the same Vin withdrawn position.

4. The combination with a foot lever, of

a Hoor `plate arranged below the samerails on said plate, a carriagemounted on wheels engagingsaid rails, means :tor yieldingly holding saidcarriagek in position to support the leveruand locky the same lagainst,operation, Ameans on the foot plate to limit the movementvof thecarriage to locking vposition, and means ony the "carriage forengaging`the foot of the operator whereby said carriage may be withdrawnfrom-below the lever by said foot andthe lever actuated thereby whilethecarriage is held Yin' ,withdrawn, position.

i 5.."The combination with a toot levenlof l a tloorplate arranged belowthe same, a carriage mounted to be reciprocated on said plate', meansfor retaining said carriage in operative positionon the plate, means foryieldingly holding said Vcarriage in position to support` the lever andlock ythe same against operation, and Vitoot engaging means on thecarriage whereby the latter may bei withdrawn frombelow the lever by thevtoot of the operator and said lever vactuated by the same foot while'on they carriage and holding the same inwithdrawn p oSOn.

"6. The combination with a foot 'lever,'of a ,tloonplate arranged belowthe same, a carriage mounted to Vbe `reciprocated on lsaid plate,"laterall{ianges on the plate with ledges overhangingtlie sides ofthecarriage for retaining the latter in operative position on the plate,fand foot v engaging means on said ,earriage whereby the latter may bemoved, to release the vlever bythe foot of the operator. I Y

K47. The combination with afootlevenmot a oorplate arranged below thesame, .a carriage Vmounted l to ,be reciprocated fon said plate from apositionl below v the lever tof-a position for'releasingfsaid lever, and,springs connected to the plate and carriage forautomatically returningthc carriage to lever In testimony whereof I have 'signed lockingposition.

